JPH11214470A - Substrate conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact substrate conveyor in which occurrence of a cross-contamination is low, and reliability in substrate support is high. SOLUTION: A substrate guide 258b is formed higher than a substrate guide 258a. When a unprocessed substrate W is conveyed, a hand element 253b is closed, so that the substrate guide 258b is brought into contact with a substrate W for support, and convertly, when a processed substrate W is conveyed, the hand element 253b is opened, so that the substrate guide 258b is positioned outwatdly of an outer periphery of the substrate W and the substrate guide 258a is brought into contact with the substrate W for support. Thus, cross- contamination is suppressed, and further as the hand element 253b is only opened and closed substantially in a horizontal direction, even if air leakage occurs in an air cylinder for driving them, the substrate W does not drop so much.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device that supports and transfers a substrate (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “substrate”) such as a photomask glass substrate, a liquid crystal display glass substrate, and an optical disk substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a substrate processing apparatus for performing various types of substrate processing, a hand for supporting and delivering a substrate is moved forward and backward with respect to a certain substrate processing section to receive the substrate.
A substrate transport apparatus that transports the substrate such that the substrate is transferred to another substrate processing unit while being supported by a hand is used.

In such a substrate transfer apparatus, a contaminant such as particles adheres to a hand by supporting an unprocessed substrate having low cleanliness, and then the processed substrate having high cleanliness is supported by the hand. As a result, there is a problem in that a contaminant adheres to the processed substrate via the hand and contaminates the processed substrate, that is, so-called cross-contamination occurs, thereby deteriorating the quality of the substrate processing.

In order to solve such a problem, there has been provided a substrate transfer apparatus as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-152266. This device includes two types of hands, one of which can be moved up and down by driving an air cylinder. Then, when supporting an unprocessed substrate and supporting a processed substrate, one hand is moved up and down to switch the hand to be supported, thereby suppressing the occurrence of cross contamination.

[0005]

In the above-described substrate transfer apparatus, when a vertically moving hand supports a substrate, the hand supports the substrate in a state of being lifted by an air cylinder. Is not only the load of the hand but also the load of the substrate. Therefore, the air cylinder is liable to cause an abnormality such as air bleeding, and if such an abnormality occurs, the substrate comes into contact with the other hand to cause cross-contamination or the substrate being supported is dropped. There was a problem that it was damaged.

In addition, with the recent increase in the size of the substrate, the weight of the substrate itself has increased, and the load applied to the air cylinder has also increased. Therefore, the air cylinder must be made large, and there is a problem that the size of the device is increased.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and to provide a compact substrate transfer apparatus which is less likely to cause cross contamination, has high substrate support reliability, and has high reliability. And

[0008]

To achieve the above object, an apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate transport apparatus for supporting and transporting a substrate, the first apparatus being capable of supporting a substrate. A hand including: a hand element; and two second hand elements that are separately arranged on both sides in a substantially horizontal plane with the first hand element and that can support both sides of the substrate; and a first hand element. Opening and closing means for relatively opening and closing the two second hand elements in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to
Is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transfer apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein each of the first hand element and the second hand element includes a plurality of substrate support portions. And each of the substrate supports is
A first edge supporting portion configured to support an edge of the substrate;
The edge support of the hand element and the edge support of the second hand element have different heights.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transfer apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the first hand element and the second hand element are arranged at slightly different heights from each other. It is characterized by that.

Further, the apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention is a substrate transfer apparatus for supporting and transferring a substrate, wherein a)
A first hand element group in which a plurality of first hand elements capable of supporting a substrate are stacked at intervals and each of which corresponds to each of the plurality of first hand elements and in a substantially same horizontal plane as the corresponding first hand element; In the second, the two second portions which are separately arranged on both sides thereof and which can support both end portions of the substrate
A hand laminate having two second hand element groups in which a plurality of sets of hand elements are stacked; and b) opening and closing the two second hand element groups in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to the first hand element group. Opening and closing means.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<1. Overview of Apparatus> FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are views showing a substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.
The outline of the apparatus will be described with reference to these drawings. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a partial configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 as viewed from a direction of an arrow AP (see FIG. 2).
Note that FIGS. 1 to 4 show three axes including the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis.
Dimensional coordinates are defined.

As shown in these figures, as shown in FIG.
Are the carrier mounting unit 100 and the horizontal transfer robot 200
(Corresponding to “substrate transfer device”), a posture conversion mechanism 300, a pusher 400, a transfer mechanism 500, a substrate processing unit 600, and a control unit CL.

[0015] A plurality of substrates W
Is loaded, and the substrate W stored in the carrier C is loaded and unloaded to and from the outside of the substrate processing apparatus 1. At this time, the plurality of substrates W are held in the carrier C in a horizontal posture.

The horizontal transfer robot 200 is an articulated type substrate transfer robot, and includes an elevating shaft 220 communicating with the inside of the base 210 and a first arm having one end connected to an upper end of the elevating shaft 220 above the base 210. 230 and a second arm 240 having one end connected to the other end of the first arm 230
And a substrate support hand 250 connected to the other end of the second arm 240. Each part is driven by an internal drive mechanism (not shown) as follows.

As shown in FIG. 2, the elevating shaft 220 is vertically movable (Z-axis direction), and the first arm 230 is connected to the elevating shaft 220 around the rotation axis A1. It can be turned (turned) at an arbitrary angle in a substantially horizontal plane. Similarly, the second arm 240
Are rotated around a rotation axis A2 at a connection portion with the first arm 230, and the substrate supporting hand 250 is rotated at an arbitrary angle in a substantially horizontal plane around a rotation axis A3 at a connection portion with the second arm 240. (Turn) is possible. And, by such a mechanism, the horizontal transfer robot 2
Reference numeral 00 denotes a substrate C that is movable in a predetermined range of a three-dimensional space while holding a substrate W by a substrate support hand 250 described in detail below. The substrate W is transported between.

The posture changing mechanism 300 includes a support base 305, a base 310, a rotary base 320, a pair of first holding mechanisms 330 for holding substrates, and a pair of second holding mechanisms 34.
0, a first aligning device 350, and a second aligning device 360. The turntable 320 has an arrow AR around the axis A30.
It is possible to rotate in the direction indicated by 30 (see FIG. 3), and to take an attitude P1 indicated by a solid line and an attitude P2 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Further, the first holding mechanism 330 and the second holding mechanism 340 rotate in conjunction with the turntable 320. Therefore, by rotating the turntable 320, the attitude conversion mechanism 300 causes the first holding mechanism 330
In addition, the postures of the plurality of substrates W held by the second holding mechanism 340 can be changed between a horizontal posture and a vertical posture. Specifically, the plurality of substrates W taken out of the carrier C at the same time by the horizontal transfer robot 200 can be converted. Is received in the posture P1 (see FIG. 3), and the turntable 320 is moved around the axis A30 by 9
The plurality of substrates W are converted to a vertical posture by rotating the substrate W by 0 degrees to the posture P2 (see FIG. 3).

The pusher 400 has a base 410, a Y-direction movable section 420, a Z-direction movable section 430, and a holder 440. The Y-direction movable section 420 is driven by a motor, a ball screw, a rail, or the like (not shown) provided on the base 410, and linearly moves in a predetermined range in the horizontal direction (Y direction) with respect to the base 410 as indicated by an arrow AR42. The Z-direction movable portion 430 is driven by a motor, a ball screw, and a rail (not shown) provided in the Y-direction movable portion 420, and is positioned within a predetermined range in the vertical direction (Z direction) as indicated by an arrow AR40 with respect to the Y-direction movable portion 420. Make a linear motion. The holder 440 is provided above the Z-direction movable portion 430, and can hold a substrate having a vertical posture.
The postures P3 and P4 can be taken by the vertical movement of the direction movable part 430. By using such a mechanism, the pusher 400 can transport a plurality of substrates W having a vertical attitude between the attitude conversion mechanism 300 and the transport mechanism 500. The pusher 400 moves up and down,
It is possible to exchange a plurality of substrates W having a vertical posture between the posture conversion mechanism 300 and the transport mechanism 500.

The transport mechanism 500 includes a transport robot 510 that can move horizontally and vertically. Further, the transport mechanism 500 includes a pair of holding mechanisms 520 for holding a plurality of substrates W having a vertical posture. Clamping mechanism 52
0 has support portions 522, 524,
Each of the support portions 522 and 524 has a plurality of grooves GV for supporting a plurality of substrates. In addition, clamping mechanism 5
20 is rotated in the direction of the arrow AR in the figure,
The substrate W can be supported or the substrate W can be released. Transport mechanism 500 having such a configuration
Transmits and receives a substrate to and from the pusher 400. Also,
As described later, a lifter 550 provided in the processing unit
It is also possible to exchange a substrate with each of the lifters 560. The transport mechanism 500 transports or transfers the substrate before, during, and after the cleaning process from one location to another location.

The substrate processing section 600 includes a pair of holding mechanisms 52.
A transport mechanism washing unit 610 having washing tanks 612a and 612b for washing the tank 0, and a chemical tank C for storing a chemical.
B are provided with chemical processing units 620 and 640, washing processing units 630 and 650 having a washing tank WB containing pure water, and a drying unit 660. Note that the transport mechanism washing processing unit 610 does not strictly process a substrate, but handles it as one of the substrate processing units 600 for performing a process accompanying the substrate processing for convenience.

The plurality of processing units are linearly arranged in the X-axis direction, and the above-described transport mechanism 500 is provided beside the linear arrangement. Transport mechanism 500
Is capable of moving in a linear arrangement direction, and carries the substrate between the processing units as described above.

Further, the chemical processing section 620 and the water washing section 6
A lifter 550 is arranged behind the 30. The lifter 550 moves up and down (Z direction) and traverse (X direction).
The substrate received from the transport mechanism 500 is immersed in the chemical tank CB of the chemical processing section 620 or immersed in the washing tank WB of the washing section 630. Similarly,
On the rear side of the chemical processing section 640 and the washing processing section 650,
A lifter 560 is provided. The lifter 560 can move up and down (Z direction) and traverse (X direction).
Or soak in With such a mechanism, a chemical solution process and a water washing process can be performed in these processing units.

The control unit CL includes the carrier mounting unit 10
0, horizontal transfer robot 200, posture conversion mechanism 300, pusher 400, transfer mechanism 500, and substrate processing section 600
Controls the operation of each unit.

With the above configuration, this substrate processing apparatus 1
Carrier C carried into carrier mounting section 100 from outside
Take out a plurality of unprocessed substrates W stored in the
After performing a batch process including a chemical solution treatment process, a water washing process, and a drying process in each of the processing units of the substrate processing unit 600, the empty carrier C placed on the carrier placement unit 100 has been processed. A series of processes such as storing the substrate W are performed.

<2. Configurations and Features of Main Parts> FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are a cross-sectional view, a partial vertical cross-sectional view, and a vertical cross-sectional view of the substrate supporting hand 250 of the horizontal transfer robot 200, respectively. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 6, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. Hereinafter, the mechanical configuration and features of the substrate support hand 250 will be described.

The substrate support hand 250 mainly includes a base 251 and a hand laminate 252.

The base 251 is attached to the above-described second arm 240 through a rotation shaft 251a.

The hand laminated body 252 is divided into ceramic hand elements 253a (corresponding to "first hand elements") provided at the center and both sides of the ceramic hand elements 253a. ), Two ceramic hand elements 253b (corresponding to “second hand elements”, and further, hand elements 253a and 253b).
3b is equivalent to a "hand"), a hand element group 252a and two hand element groups 252b provided in a state of being stacked in a vertically spaced manner. Then, as shown in FIG.
Each of the hand elements 253a of each of the hand elements 52a has exactly the same shape.
Each hand element 253b provided in each of 2b has exactly the same shape. In addition, the number of them is the same as the number of substrates W that can be accommodated in the carrier C, and the distance between the hand elements 253a and 253b in the stacking direction is also the arrangement of the substrate supporting grooves in the carrier C or the like. The interval is the same as the interval. However, in FIG. 5, reference numerals are given only to a part of the hand element 253a.

Each of the two hand element groups 252b is connected to two rods 254a, 255a and 254b, 255b provided through the base 251. The rods 254a, 255a, 255
b and 255b are slidable with respect to the base 251 by a linear motion guide 256 provided inside the base 251.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, inside the base portion 251, air cylinders 257a and 257b (corresponding to "opening / closing means") are placed back to back so that the directions of the drive rods DRa and DRb are opposite. Is provided. And the air cylinders 257a and 257b
Hand element groups 252b and 252b are attached to the distal ends of the drive rods DRa and DRb, respectively, outside the base 251. The two hand element groups 252b are controlled by the control unit CL to control the air cylinder 257.
By driving a and 257b, the hand element group 252a can be approached and separated from the hand element group 252a, that is, the two hand element groups 252b can be opened and closed in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to the hand element group 252a.

Further, as shown in FIG.
3a has an end (tip) opposite to the base 251 at 2
It is also divided into the divided front and base portions 251.
A substrate guide 258a made of fluororesin, especially Teflon (registered trademark) is provided on both sides near the side end. In addition, each hand element 253b has a similar board guide 2 near its end on the base 251 side and near its other end.
58b are provided.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the area AR shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 8 is a view showing the board guides 258a and 258 of the board supporting hand 250.
FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of a portion 8b (corresponding to “substrate support portion” and “edge support portion”). As shown in FIG. 7, each hand element 253
a and 253b substrate guides 258a and 258b
Has a circular shape in plan view, and furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, a central portion slightly protrudes upward in a circular shape, and is provided with an inclined surface IS which is gradually lowered outward in the periphery thereof.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the position of the substrate W supported by the substrate guides 258a and 258b in a state where each hand element 253b is closed (shown by a solid line in FIG. 4) is defined as a support position SP. At this time, the board guides 258a, 258
b is such that the inclined surface IS of the substrate guides 258a and 258b on the substrate center CW side is located on the same circumference (outer periphery of the substrate W) corresponding to the edge of the substantially circular substrate W located at the support position SP. Are located. Also, each hand element 2
53b is open (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 4 and 7)
In this case, the board guide 258b is located outside the circumference (outer circumference of the board W).

As shown in FIG. 8, each hand element 2
The board guide 258b provided on the 53b is slightly higher than the board guide 258a provided on each hand element 253a. Therefore, hand element group 2
If the substrate W is supported by each hand element 253a with the 52b opened, four lower substrate guides 258a
The substrate W is supported by the edge portion of the substrate W abutting on the inclined surface IS on the side of the substrate center CW, and the substrate W does not contact the substrate guide 258b of each hand element 253b.

Conversely, when supporting the substrate W in a state where the hand element group 252b is closed, the four high substrate guides 25
8b, the edge portion of the substrate W abuts on the inclined surface IS on the side of the substrate center CW, whereby the substrate W is supported on both sides thereof (positions distant from the substrate center CW in the Y-axis direction in the substrate W), As shown in FIG. 8, the supporting height of the substrate W is higher than the lower inclined surface IS of the substrate guide 258a, so that the substrate W does not contact each substrate guide 258a.

With the above-described configuration, in the horizontal transfer robot 200, each substrate W held in the carrier C is
After each set of the hand elements 253a and 253b is inserted between them, the elevating shaft 220 of the horizontal transfer robot 200 rises slightly and scoops the substrate W to support and take out the substrate W. 100 and attitude conversion mechanism 30
In this case, the unprocessed substrate W, that is, a small degree of contamination is acceptable, as in the case of transport from the carrier mounting unit 100 to the attitude conversion mechanism 300. A case where a low substrate W is transported, and a case where a substrate W having a high degree of cleanliness such as a processed substrate W is to be removed as much as possible, such as a transport from the attitude conversion mechanism 300 to the carrier mounting unit 100. In the hand element group 252
By changing the opening / closing state of b as described above, the substrate guides 258a and 258b that are in contact with the substrate W are different.

For example, when the unprocessed substrate W is transferred from the carrier mounting section 100 to the posture changing mechanism 300, the substrate guide 258b contacts the substrate W by closing the hand element group 252b. When the substrate guide 258a of the hand element group 252a is held open by holding the hand element group 252b open when the processed substrate W is transported from the attitude conversion mechanism 300 to the carrier mounting unit 100. For example, it comes into contact with the substrate W and supports it. Accordingly, cross contamination between the substrates W before and after the processing through the horizontal transfer robot 200 can be suppressed.

The open / close state of the hand element group 252b when supporting the unprocessed substrate W or the processed substrate W may be reversed. That is, the hand element group 252
b, the unprocessed substrate W is supported and transported by the substrate guide 258a in the opened state, and the substrate guide 2 is closed in the closed state.
The processed substrate W may be supported and transported by 58b.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the hand element 253a having the substrate guide 258a is provided.
In contrast, two hand elements 2 each having a substrate guide 258b which is arranged separately on both sides thereof in a substantially horizontal plane and which is slightly higher than the substrate guide 258a
Since the air cylinders 53b can be relatively opened and closed in a substantially horizontal direction by the air cylinders 257a and 257b, the substrate guides 258a and 258b supporting the substrates W having different cleanliness like the substrates W before and after the processing can be hand-operated. By making the difference depending on the opening and closing of the element 253b, the occurrence of cross contamination can be suppressed.

Moreover, the air cylinders 257a, 257b
Only opens and closes the two hand elements 253b in a substantially horizontal direction, so that the load of the substrate W is not applied to the air cylinders 257a and 257b. Therefore, the air cylinder 257
Since it is not necessary to use a large-scale device as the a and 257b, the horizontal transfer robot 200 and the entire substrate processing apparatus 1 can be made compact and inexpensive, and the air is generated while the hand elements 253a and 253b support the substrate. Even if an abnormality such as air bleeding occurs in the cylinders 257a and 257b, the substrate W is less likely to fall, so that the reliability of supporting the substrate is high, thereby making it possible to provide an apparatus with less damage.

Since each of the substrate guides 258a and 258b supports the edge of the substrate W, the substrate guide 25
8a, 258b and the substrate W can be reduced in contact area, so that cross contamination can be further suppressed.

Further, the hand element 253a,
Hand element group 252 in which a plurality of 253b are vertically stacked
Since the air cylinders a and 252b can be relatively opened and closed by the air cylinders 257a and 257b, the same effects as described above can be exerted in batch processing in which a plurality of substrates W are processed at one time.

Furthermore, since the hand elements 253a and 253b are made of ceramics, they do not bend as much as made of metal, so that a large-sized substrate W having a diameter of 300 mm or the like can be reliably supported and transported.

<3. Modification> In the substrate transfer apparatus of the above embodiment, the substrate guide 258a of the hand element 253a and the substrate guide 258b of the hand element 253b have different heights, and the unprocessed substrate W is supported by opening and closing the hand element 253b. Although the switching between the support of the processed substrate W is performed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the substrate guides of the hand elements 253a and 253b may have the same height, and the hand element 253b may be replaced with the corresponding hand. The switching may be performed by providing a little higher than the element 253a.

Further, in the substrate transfer apparatus of the above embodiment, the substrate supporting hand 250
4, the substrate W is supported near the center between the substrate center CW in the Y-axis direction and the edge position of the substrate W, as shown in FIG. In order to avoid interference with the side wall SW (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 7). Therefore, when the shape of the carrier C is different or when the substrate W is not transferred to and from the carrier C, the distance between the two hand element groups 252b and 252b is increased to make the substrate W It may be supported at a position outside the center CW. In that case 2
Since one hand element 253b can be shorter, the substrate W
The bending of the hand element 253b at the time of supporting is small, and the manufacturing cost of the hand element 253b can be reduced, so that the apparatus can be inexpensive.

In the above embodiment, the board guide 25
Although the substrate W is supported by its edges by 8a and 258b, the present invention is not limited to this, and other methods, such as supporting the lower surface inside the outer periphery of the substrate W with pins, and other members, are used. You may.

In the above embodiment, both the two hand element groups 252b move relatively to open and close. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of the air cylinders 257a and 257b may be used. Alternatively, only one of the two hand element groups 252b and 252b may be moved to open and close relatively. In this case, in order to support the substrate W by the hand element group 252b, the support position of the substrate W with respect to the hand 250 moves in the Y-axis direction with respect to the support position SP in FIG. It is necessary to correct the positional relationship with the mechanism 300. This can be realized, for example, by moving the entire substrate transfer robot 250 in the Y-axis direction in a direction to compensate for the positional deviation, or conversely, by mounting the carrier. The board transfer position in the mounting section 100 and the posture changing mechanism 300 may be moved to compensate for the shift.

Further, in the above embodiment, each of the hand elements 253a and 253b is provided with two types of substrate guides 258a and 258b having different heights, and the unprocessed and processed substrates W are supported by different ones. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Each hand element is provided with three or more types of substrate guides having different heights, and the hand elements are opened and closed at three or more relative distances. May be divided into three or more stages, and the substrate guides that support each may be switched.

[0050]

As described above, according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, the first hand element capable of supporting the substrate is disposed separately on both sides in a substantially same horizontal plane as the first hand element. Since the two second hand elements that can support both sides of the substrate can be relatively opened and closed in a substantially horizontal direction by the opening and closing means, each of the substrates having different cleanliness, such as the substrates before and after the cleaning process, can be used. By switching the support between the first hand element and the second hand element, occurrence of cross contamination can be suppressed.

Moreover, since the opening / closing means only opens and closes the second hand element, the load of the substrate is not applied to the opening / closing means. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a large-scale opening / closing means, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact and inexpensive, and an abnormality occurs in the opening / closing means during the support of the substrate by the first and second hand elements. However, since the substrate is hardly dropped, the reliability of supporting the substrate is high, so that an apparatus with less damage can be provided.

Further, compared to the case where separate hand elements are provided for each of the substrates having different cleanliness, the apparatus can be made cheaper, and the whole apparatus can be made compact.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since each of the substrate supporting portions is configured as an edge supporting portion for supporting the edge of the substrate, the contact area between the substrate supporting portion and the substrate can be reduced. Therefore, a device with less cross contamination can be obtained.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of first hand elements each having a plurality of first hand elements capable of supporting a substrate and being stacked at intervals are provided.
While corresponding to each of the plurality of first hand elements,
In substantially the same horizontal plane as the corresponding first hand element,
The two second hand element groups in which a plurality of sets of two second hand elements arranged separately on both sides can be relatively opened and closed in a substantially horizontal direction by the opening and closing means. The same effect as the first aspect can be exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a part of the substrate processing apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial configuration of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate supporting hand of the horizontal transfer robot.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view of a substrate supporting hand of the horizontal transfer robot.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a substrate supporting hand of the horizontal transfer robot.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a region AR in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a part of the substrate supporting hand.

[Explanation of symbols]

200 Horizontal transfer robot 250 Substrate support hand 252 Hand stack 252a, 252b Hand element group (first hand element group, second hand element group, hand together) 253a, 253b Hand element (first hand element, second hand) Element) 257a, 257b Air cylinder (opening / closing means) 258a, 258b Board guide (board support, edge support) W board

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate transport apparatus for supporting and transporting a substrate, comprising: a first hand element capable of supporting a substrate; And a hand having two second hand elements capable of supporting both side portions of the substrate, and opening and closing means for opening and closing the two second hand elements relatively horizontally with respect to the first hand element. And a substrate transfer device. 2. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first hand element and the second hand element includes a plurality of substrate support portions, and each of the substrate support portions. Is configured as an edge support for supporting the edge of the substrate, and the edge support in the first hand element and the second edge support.
A substrate transfer device, wherein the edge support of the hand element has a height different from each other. 3. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the first hand element and the second hand element are arranged at slightly different heights from each other. 4. A substrate transport apparatus for supporting and transporting a substrate, comprising: a) a first hand element group in which a plurality of first hand elements capable of supporting a substrate are stacked at intervals; Each of the first hand elements corresponds to a corresponding first one.
In the same horizontal plane as the hand element, it is arranged separately on both sides thereof and can support both ends of the substrate.
A hand laminate having two second hand element groups in which a plurality of sets of two second hand elements are stacked; and b) the two second hand element groups are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to the first hand element group. Opening and closing means for opening and closing relatively to the substrate.